Iran’s main gas pipeline hit by probable sabotage, state media report

TEHRAN : (Reuters) : Two explosions struck gas pipelines in Iran early Wednesday in an act of “terrorism and sabotage” that disputed gas supplies in three of the country’s provinces, state media reported.

“This act of terrorism and sabotage was carried out in two locations at around 1:00 am,” National Iranian Gas Company manager Saeed Aghli told the energy ministry’s official Shana news agency.

The saboteurs hit pipelines in the cities of Borujen in the southwestern province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Safashahr in the southern province of Fars, Aghli said, adding that there were no casualties in the explosions or the ensuing fires.

State media reported that the sabotage had disrupted gas supplies in at least three provinces – North Khorasan in the northeast, Lorestan in the west and Zanjan in the northwest.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks and Iranian officials did not immediately apportion blame.

Iran has generally blamed agents of its arch foe Israel for similar acts of sabotage in the past.

Tehran has made the Palestinian cause a centerpiece of its foreign policy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the two governments have long fought a shadow war of sabotage and assassinations.